We applied for my girlfriend's DTV last week. Today we just got it approved and have the DTV safely delivered in her inbox. Just thought I'd update here so anyone else applying in a similar circumstance and via HCMC knows what the rough wait times currently are.

# Embassy & DTV Type

* Soft Power - Muay Thai

* Embassy - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

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# Timeline

See below a breakdown of our timeline below:

1. Saturday 4th October @ 3pm - Submitted application via Thai Visa website.

2. Monday 6th October @ 5pm - Request for additional Documents, which included:

- Document indicating current location: Provide pictures of every single page of passport, not scanned but a photo taken, including time and date stamp.

- Proof of monthly income: If unemployed, explain how you will sustain yourself on a 5-year visa and what your plans are for after your 6 month Muay Thai course.

- Email from Muay Thai Gym: Ask the gym to send a student confirmation email directly to embassy email, use the same email that is listed on their website for credibility and attach a screenshot of the email to help with verification.

- Financial Evidence: Show a deposit account with 6 months of statements of transactions with amount totalling no less than 500,000 Thai Baht.

3. Tuesday 7th October @ 1pm - We submitted additional requested docs.

4. Wednesday 8th October - Thai eVisa website status changed from 'Request additional Docs' to 'Pending Approval'

5. Friday 10th October @ 5:10pm - Visa approved and DTV delivered by email 🥳

So all in all, it took 5 full business days including additional docs request, but we were obviously very fast at providing the requested docs. Any extra time you take, might cause further delays.

But it only took 48 hours after our status changed to 'Pending approval'. So all in all, it was very quick and I'm impressed after hearing about how long it's taken people in the past from HCMC.

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# Additional Information

* 6 month statements doc request - This was odd, because we already included it in our original submission. I gathered they just wanted to see a second version updated to the latest date so we exported another 6 month statement that included the last few days that weren't on the original submission and submitted it on it's own file as per their request.

* Proof of income & sustaining yourself - My girlfriend has recently started her own business which is still only at the beginning. She has a very minimal income, and it's not even regular monthly, it's spaced out a lot. We wrote a cover letter that explained this, and explained that she'd likely be continuing her Muay Thai training way past the 6 months in between travelling in and out of Thailand. We express her love for the country, culture, people and food. We then attached a certificate of her registered company, her company bank account and stripe account to show the minimal income there. I then wrote a cover/sponsor letter from me, explaining that she lives with me and I cover most of her living costs, including apartment rent and food. I explained I am already on a DTV for 1 year and showed 1 month bank statement to show my funds that I have enough to support her.

All in all, I was pretty anxious the entire week because it had been 1 year since I originally got my DTV in London, and just heard so many stories about people getting denied for not knowing the reason after what seemed like a very good and strong application, it really felt like it just totally depends on who you get on the day and what mood they're in. Plus my girlfriend was way less qualified to get a DTV than me.

Fortunately, it all worked out. Hope this helps anyone else with their applications or anxiety whilst they are waiting 😂.

Was helpful going through this group the past week, so thanks to everyone who contributes.

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Any help is much appreciated!

My DTV was Approved!

Boyfriend’s application pending (he submitted on 18 Sept - later than I).

I included the outline of my portfolio below and added a PDF template in the comment that you can easily copy/paste to replicate.

Yes, I used chatgpt and pasted into google Docs. It didn't transfer well to this post but the PDF makes more sense

Location: Bali

Royal Thai Embassy Jakarta

Visa Type: DTV — Workation

Nationality: USA

Submitted: Mon 15 Sept, 15:34 (Bali time)

Changed to Processing Pending Approval: Tues 23 Sept, appx 17:00 (Bali time)

Approved: Tues 23 Sept, 21:10 (Bali time)

Intended Date of Arrival: 15 Oct

# How I Structured My DTV Workation Portfolio (Jakarta )

This structure covers two common cases:

* Track A – Remote employee / freelancer (you have a contract that explicitly allows remote work)

* Track B – Solo founder / business owner (income from your own company / platforms)

# Required Uploads (from the application)

1. Passport biodata page (JPG)

2. Photo (taken within last 6 months, JPG)

3. Document indicating current location

* (proof of stay/lease, local visa/permit, bank/utility with local address, recent travel tickets; you can add neatly captioned dated selfies/receipts as supplementary)

1. I provided letter from landlord in Bali since I booked directly

2. 2 selfies at 2 different cafes holding receipts

1. Circle cafe logo

2. Highlight date, address on receipt

3. Pics of receipt

3. Highlight date, and address in receipt

4. Financial evidence: ≥ 500,000 THB

* Bank statements for last 3 months (showing ending balance ≥ THB 500,000 equivalent) and/or bank balance letter (highlight end balance of each month)

4. I provided 6 months

5. I was missing Aug and Sept bank statements since there were no transactions so I included bank letter from my bank

5. Employment contract / employment certificate OR Professional portfolio (to prove digital nomad / remote worker / foreign talent / freelancer status)

* Freelancer

6. Employment/Service Contract (must state remote work allowed)

7. Invoices / payslips (last 3–6 months)

4. I provided 8 months

8. Bank statement highlights showing matching deposits (same amounts/dates)

5. I provided 8 months

9. Portfolio samples

6. Shared screenshot of my LinkedIn and work that I did for my clients (social media)

* Solo Founder / Business Owner (if this applies)

10. Business proof (company registry extract, Articles of Association showing you as owner)

11. Platform income dashboards (last 3–6 months)

7. I provided 8 months

12. Payout logs (last 3–6 months)

8. I provided 8 months

13. Bank highlights(last 3–6 months)

9. I provided 8 months

14. Portfolio samples (work-related content *→ *GitHub, LinkedIn, Website, reviews of product/site, Store listings, product pages, version history, etc.)

10. Shared Apple connect screenshots

11. Shared screenshot of App website and in App Store

12. Screenshot of Linkedin

# (3) Current Location

Cover Sheet (1 page)

* Header: Name, passport number, purpose of the section

* What’s inside (bullet list)

Order inside the PDF

1. Proof of stay (booking/lease with *your name*, address, and dates)

2. Local visa/permit (if applicable)

3. Recent travel tickets into the current country (not Thailand)

4. Supplementary evidence: one page each, with caption

* Dated selfie + receipt (café)

* Any other dated local activity

Formatting: Put translations right after the original if any item isn’t in English/Thai. Use simple captions: *“Bali Deli — 14 Sep 2025 (receipt date visible).”*

# (4) Financial Evidence - THB 500,000+

Cover Sheet (1 page)

* Header (name, passport) and purpose

* What’s inside (bullet list)

* Summary table (example below)

Summary Table (example)

Month(2025) Ending Balance (USD) ≈ THB (@35 illustrative)

July 16,654.00 500,000

August 16,654.00 500,000

September 16,654.00 500,000

Then include, in this order:

1. Last 3–6 months of bank statements showing ending balance ≥ THB 500,000 equivalent

2. Bank balance confirmation letter (explain missing months if no statement was issued)

3. Highlight only what matters (your name, statement date, month-end balance)

# (5) Employment / Professional Portfolio (≤3 MB)

## Cover

* Header: Name, passport; purpose of this section (to prove legitimate remote work)

* What’s inside (bullet list)

* Name Variation Note (if applicable):

* I did this because I had different name variations on different documents

*“My legal name is [Full Legal Name] (Passport [Number]). I also appear as [Variation 1] / [Variation 2] in some systems. These are my display names and refer to the same person.”*

* Compliance Banner:

*“I understand the DTV requires remote work only. I will not work for Thai companies or receive Thai-sourced salary under this visa. I understand DTV is multiple-entry, valid 5 years, and allows up to 180 days per entry with the option to apply once for a 180-day extension at Immigration; I will comply with all rules.”*

* Mini Table of Contents + Page Numbers so an officer can jump straight to:

* Contract → Invoices → Bank highlights

* Dashboards → Payout logs → Bank highlights

## 1) Status as Remote Worker / Foreign Talent (1 page)

* What you do, who you serve, your remote tool stack, confirm 100% remote

* One explicit line: *“I do not provide services to Thai companies under DTV.”*

## 2) Track A - Remote Employee / Freelancer (if this applies)

* Employment/Service Contract (must state remote work allowed)

* Invoices / payslips (last 3–6 months)

* Bank statement highlights showing matching deposits (same amounts/dates)

* Reconciliation Table (1 page):

Reconciliation — [Track A invoices] / [Track B payouts]

| Ref | Source (Invoice/Payout) | Amount | Bank Post Date | Bank Amount | Evidence Page # |

|-----|----------------|----------|---------------|-----------|

| 001 | Invoice (May) | $xxx.xx | 2025-05-05 | $xxx |

| 002 | Payout (Jun) | $xxx.xx | 2025-07-31 | $xxx |

* Portfolio samples (work-related content *→ *GitHub, LinkedIn, Website, reviews of product/site, Store listings, product pages, version history, etc.)

## 3) Track B - Solo Founder / Business Owner (if this applies)

* Business proof (company registry extract, Articles of Association showing you as owner)

* Platform income dashboards (e.g., Apple/Google/Amazon/Gumroad/Patreon)

* Payout logs (platform → company)

* Bank highlights (company → personal as salary/distribution)

* Reconciliation Table (1 page):

*Platform payout → Company bank line → Personal bank line*

* Portfolio samples (work-related content *→ *GitHub, LinkedIn, Website, reviews of product/site, Store listings, product pages, version history, etc.)

If you have BOTH tracks (e.g., apps + freelance), include both, each with its own 1-page overview and 1-page reconciliation table.

# 3 MB File-Size Tips (each upload ≤ 3 MB)

Recommended tools:

* Merge/Compress: [ilovepdf.com/]([members only]/)

* Ensure not to over-compress evidence with small text or images

iLovePDF workflow (what I do)

1. Compress (before merging)

Text-only docs (bank statements, letters, contracts): use “Extreme compress.”

Image/screenshot-heavy docs (dashboards, app listings, social content): use “Light compress.”

After each compress, open and zoom to 200–300% to confirm:

* Text remains sharp/readable (names, dates, amounts, IDs).

* Stamps/logos remain identifiable.

1. Merge

Use iLovePDF Merge PDF to assemble the final single file for that requirement.

If the merged file > 3 MB, run one more “Light compress” on the merged file, then spot-check again.

1. Final QA checklist

Open the merged PDF on laptop (simulate the reviewer’s view).

Verify all highlights/annotations are visible and not fuzzy.

Confirm page order matches your cover sheet/table of contents.

Re-run compression only if absolutely needed; re-check readability after.

When to re-export instead of over-compress

* If light compression still blurs small text, go back to the source and re-export smaller (crop more; export specific pages only) rather than forcing heavier compression.

# Quick Checklist

* Your contract explicitly allows remote work (Track A)

* Self-employed? Include your business registration showing your name (Track B)

* Reconciliation: every invoice/payout matches a highlighted bank deposit (same amount/date)

* Name consistency across docs (add a one-line name variation note if needed)

* Translations: non-English docs have English translations

* Dates align across tickets, stay proof, invoices, and bank statements

* Compliance statement included (remote work for non-Thai entities; DTV validity & 180-day stays understood)

## Templates

Section Cover Template

SECTION: [e.g., Financial Evidence]

Applicant: [Full Name]

Passport: [Number]

Purpose: [One sentence—what the officer will verify here]

Contents:

1) [Doc name + brief note]

2) [Doc name + brief note]

3) [Doc name + brief note]

Notes:

- [Any special explanation, e.g., “No August statement issued; balance letter attached.”]

Reconciliation Table Template

Reconciliation — [Track A invoices] / [Track B payouts]

| Ref | Source (Invoice/Payout) | Amount | Bank Post Date | Bank Amount | Evidence Page # |

|-----|----------------|---------|----------------|-----------|

| 001 | Invoice (May) | $xxx.xx | 2025-05-05 | $xxx |

| 002 | Payout (Jun) | $xxx.xx | 2025-07-31 | $xxx |

Applied in Jakarta on the 17th September and haven't heard back (today 25th September). The status below still says:

"Processing Pending Document Check (1)", I haven't received an Email from their side e.g asking for more documents, but would that appear also on their webpage if that was the case?

Anyone also experiencing this applying through Jakarta?

Thank you

Has anyone currently applied for a visa in America through the New York embassy? There are usually short turnaround times. I been waiting 3 weeks and still "processing waiting for approval ". I am applying for 90 day stay with Thai family.